Tag: illegal abortion

C.G.C. shares her story of traveling from Galway, Ireland to Manchester, England for an abortion when she was 16 years old.Ireland has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe.It is estimated that every day an average of 10 women travel from Ireland to Britain for an abortion. On May 25th, voters in Ireland will vote on repealing its constitutional ban on abortion (the Eighth Amendment).

Sue shares her story of seeking an illegal abortion in 1965, 8 years before that landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which guarantees the right to safe and legal abortion in the United States. She also talks about her experiences in the Women’s Movement, founding a women’s theatre troupe (It’s All Right To Be Woman Theatre), and directing a documentary about Connie Cook, a progressive Republican NY Assemblywoman who wrote the legislation that decriminalized abortion in New York State in 1970.

Judith Arcana shares her experiences as a Jane in The Abortion Counseling Service of the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union (usually known as JANE*), the underground abortion service in Chicago.From 1968-1973, JANE provided over 11,000 people safe and affordable abortions, and abortion counseling.

In August 2014, I posted the recording of my first interview with Judith.In this second interview, she talks about who performed abortions for Jane, how she learned to perform abortions, and how women were counseled by the service.She offers us a history lesson and her wisdom, both of which we must learn from in these uncertain times.

Katharina shares her experience of having an abortion in Jordan with the help of Women on Web and talks about her activist work with Ciocia Basia, a Berlin based group that helps Polish women access abortion in Germany.

S.M. discusses becoming a young mother while in college, and shares her experiences with miscarriage and seeking an abortion in Northern Ireland, where abortion is illegal, after a diagnosis of Spina Bifida.